Greedy Starlings

tell me about it carol, they are the same here just empty the damn feeders and dont eat anything, its like they are being naughty on purpose because its not what they want lol

Hi,

I`ve haven`t really seen much in the way of starlings this year, mind you they are the bully boys of the bird world so I don`t really mind. They usually only eat the suet balls and leave everything else alone. I usually get a lot of goldfinches and am looking forward to their return this winter along with the blue and great tits.

Sandra

i have had goldfinches to sandra, also greenfinch and blue tits and great tits, lovely to see so many differant birds isnt it :o)

I get goldfinches and a greenfinch, Labdancer, you can have my starlings if you wont.

They're devils for the suet aren't they Clarice ? They do make me smile though, you always hear them before you see them ! lol :-)

Yes Clarice - starlings love the suet and don't really want the seed etc....so they chuck the sunflower etc onto the ground and just mop up the fat content which is what keeps them warm and active!! The ground feeders then fly down and eat up the fallen seed in my garden....and the collar doves of course have a field day..and everybody is happy - except me....I can't keep up with the lot of them..hungry sods! But I love 'em all.. and fill up everything most mornings ..LOL

Sue , i could really fallout with them, but there is just something about them, mind you i've heard that our starlings go further south for winter and the starlings we have now are from Russia, (no wonder they fallout and fight with each other) mind you i do miss them when they are no longer here, it goes dead quite without them till i get use to it again.Alzheimer i agree with you, i make my own fat cakes so there is plenty of fat around for them as for my doves they have learned how to eat from one of my feeders.

Yes Clarice - starlings have caused a good bit of comment here recently as you will see on sanbaz's lovely blog alfredhitchcock/the birds a couple of days ago.
Our starlings stay all year round up here and indeed I have them nesting..noisy sods!! But adorable babes all in a row on the washing line in teh summer being fed by Mum or Dad.
We do get more in winter though as the farm ones can't get so well fed these days and come to the towns for extra easy pickings!! Also the ones on the continent migrate over to GB as it is milder here....so the numbers swell tremendously.
No chance of a long lie with them hanging around in the trees at crack of dawn waiting to be fed...LOL

Carol - sorry I couldn't look much at the photos because of my bird phobia, but I think it's a good idea you have of hanging the feeders on those brackets.

Thank goodness I have nt got any I would shoo them away.

Naughty starlings - I cant help but like them though.

I agree Dawnsaunt....I think they are SO comical...and they don't seem to bother the rest of my various birds. It is the crows that do the damage with me. So I DO chase them as they raid the nests of the little birds here...grrr

Hi Alzheimer - its the magpies that we get that I'm not keen on ... like the crows, they raid nests, dont they.
The starlings dont invade that often here but its the way they squabble amongst themselves that makes me smile and they always want the same bit of food as each other.

Sorry, Carol, I did have to smile at your blog, but I'm sorry they wasted the food.

Cheeky little blighters! :~))

I`ve got plenty of starlings so am quite willing to send some elsewhere , although at the minute they are making a grand job of eating fallen apples lol.........

Dont send them here, I've got too many of the little bullies as it is!

loads in my garden too.they clear the bird table in seconds.....

Thankfully Dawnsaunt - no magpies down in the town here...but up country by just a couple of miles - they are bothered with them and they do raid the nests....grrr. Let's hope they don't come here.....the sparrow hawk is a bad enough visitorr....sitting plucking his prey on the fir tree branch and daring me to do anything about it!!!

I watched a female sparrow hawk devour a starling in the middle of my back lawn !! All that was left was the beak ! Beautiful looking bird :-)

Nasty sparrow hawks, hey Alzheimers.
We have buzzards round here and they stay high in the sky most of the time but occasionally I disturb one sitting in the top of a dead silver birch tree above the reeds where the baby moorhens are in the pond, the poor mother moorhen goes mad.

I'll bet she does....poor bird. We have a lot of buzzards up over the old golf course I normally walk on and they sound super. Sometimes they sit on gateposts as I drive pass and are SO laid back - they just sit and look at me.....some day I will remember my camera!! I am sure they are not photo-shy...LOL .Quite frequently we see them - like the hawks -tearing a rabbit to bits on the verge of the motorway....quite unperturbed by the roaring traffic! A friend of mine has a cottage by a river and she has some special sheep and was hand-rearing a tiny lamb. She was sitting in the garden one afternoon - with the wee lamb tottering around the lawn....and a buzzard swooped down for it. Luckily she was quick enough to chase it off...but it was a near thing apparently.

I love listening to the starlings chatter & scoldings as they sit on the wires or in a tree...they are so funny! Whistles & chirrups...all sorts. Your feeder is fab Carol.

Hi Alzheimer, these birds are so cheeky, arent they, that poor lamb had a lucky escape. The crows do quite a good job around he though, the buzzards are usually being chased by a couple.

Yes - isn't it funny to see a MASSIVE bird like a buzzard being seen off by a few crows!!! Frankly I think I would rather have a buzzard...those crows - they mob my garden at times and I had to put up a "scare-crow" one year. I was advised by a farmer to hang a dead crow in the garden to keep others away.....no way was I doing that....so I stuck a big potato with crow feathers I picked up from the golf course etc and hung it from the big fir tree. It swung around in the breeze and it DID keep the crows away and the little birds just kept on feeding - and never turned a hair...or should that read feather..LOL

Ha ha, my dad used to hang dead wood pigeons around his cabbages to keep others away, it does work if you can stomach it.